ABSTRACT

A mortgage is a charge over property, conferred by the owner on a lender, in order to secure the repayment of a loan. In each of the United Kingdom's three legal jurisdictions (England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland) the law of mortgages is old, technical and very complicated. The law in Northern Ireland shares the same historical roots as that in England and Wales but has developed separately. In Scotland, the law is quite different - and the term 'heritable security' is used rather than 'mortgage'. However, in all three jurisdictions the law is influenced by two basic principles.